100 days progress report of the President of AAPI 2022-23 – American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin

First 100 days report

By Ravi Kolli, MD

President of AAPI 2022-23

I stated in my inaugural address in San Antonio at the 40th annual Convention on June 25^th, 2022, that I will serve with gratitude and humility as the steward of this esteemed and illustrious organization. The journey of a thousand miles started there with a small step.

June and July 2022: It has been a hectic first 100 days ever since and have been traveling and meeting various community and our patron chapter leaders and attending conventions and meetings to promote our stated goals.

Our first EC meeting on June 26^th was addressed by Daaji of Heartfulness Institute who gave an inspiring message of compassion.
The day after the inauguration changed my plan and plane and took a detour to Chicago to meet with Guruji Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of Art of Living on June 27^th. We had a meaningful discussion on physician wellness, mental health stigma, and gun violence, which coincidentally were mentioned in my inaugural address as well just a couple of days previously.
Took part at the ATA Convention in Washington DC on July 2^nd to give a presentation on Diaspora Mental Health and Best practices for Mental Wellness to Heartfulness Meditation Group there.
Attended the NRIVA convention in Chicago on July 3^rd at Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center and did a CME presentation on Diaspora Mental Health also and met with Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev in a small group meeting on July 4^th.
Participated in an online seminar workshop presentation on Physician Burnout for the EHAC Equitable Healthcare Access Consortium audience on July 8^th.
Attended CETI (Collaboration to Eliminate TB among Indian) online seminar on July 9^th to applaud their phenomenal work under the leadership and guidance of Dr. Manoj Jain and under whose guidance, the team has been doing an amazing job and profoundly and fundamentally addressing the root causes.
Joined a leadership meeting with Indian College Anesthesia at their ICA Webinar on July13^t^hcoordinated by Dr. Kumar Belani.
Had a long discussion with Dr. N. N. Raju, President of IPS Indian Psychiatric Society on July 13^th, to collaborate with them on addressing Mental Health and Substance abuse challenges in India and invited them to join our GHS in Visakhapatnam from January 6-8, 2023.
Attended Srimad Rajchandra Love and Care SRLC USA Humanitarian Relief event in the inspiring presence of the Spiritual Master Pujya Gurudev Shri Rakeshji, founder of Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur (SRMD) on July 15^th.
Visited BAPS Temple, Robbinsville, NJ on July 16th upon the invitation by Dr. Sejal Mehta and had a meeting with senior Sadguru Swamis and Dr. Parag Mehta, President of the Medical Society of State of NY and discussed the spirituality and mental health.
Attended APPNA – Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America convention in Atlantic City on July 16^th and discussed with the President of APPNA Dr. Haroon Durrani and their leadership team on common goals to advocate and collaborate on.
Took part in the virtual program on July 17^th of the conclusion of HPV vaccination drive with the administration of a second dose of vaccine, under the leadership of Dr. Anupama Gotimukula coordinated by Dr. Dwarakanath Reddy and Dr. Nau Nihal Singh.
On July 28^th, I joined the US House, Speaker Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Congressional leaders Hon. Pramila Jaypal, Judy Cho, Frank Pallone, and Dr. Ami Bera at the press meet on Capitol Hill to discuss South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Bill HR 3771 Bill that passed the house and is now in the senate for voting.
Presented an online CME talk on physician burnout to doctors at Goutami Institute in Rajahmundry, India on July 29^th, moderated by our esteemed leader Dr. V K Raju of Eye Foundation of America.

August 2022:

Canadian Rockies Family CME Tour: Over 65 members of AAPI joined for a memorable Canadian Rockies Tour from July 30^th to August 6^th arranged by ATG. We had 6 hours of CME presentations under the directorship of Dr. Krishan Kumar and coordinated by Dr. Meher Medavaram, Secretary of AAPI, and Dr. Ram Medavaram, RD of AAPI. I want to thank all our members and family that joined this tour and CME speakers Drs. Praful Bhatt, Prasad Chalasani, Naresh Dewan, Ravi Kolli, Krishna Kumar, and Dr. Neelagaru gave a talk on leadership and entrepreneurship.
Immediately following that, attended the AMCANA reunion on August 7^th in Dallas and met with their leadership team to discuss and plan our AAPI GHS, cohosted by AMCANA under the leadership of Dr. Prasad Chalasani and Dr. Ravi Raju in Visakhapatnam from January 6^th -8^th, 2023.
Along with Dr. Vasudeva Reddy of Orlando, FL, the Health Advisor to the CM of AP, visited India from August 8^th to 16^th to meet the Governor of AP, CM of AP, and other ministers and officials to invite them to our GHS. We visited a Public Health Center to assess their needs and capabilities to understand how AAPI members can help in serving the rural population there. We also met with the Principal and Professors of Ob-Gyn and Pediatrics at Siddhartha Medical College, Vijayawada to discuss plans on how to reduce Infant and Maternal mortality in India. We are discussing various plans with the state government and NGOs to help in this area as well as developing a program to address mental health issues of students in all the schools in the state.
Attended RAJMAAI (Rajasthani alumni )reunion in New Jersey on August 20^th and presented a CME talk on physician burnout and met with RAJMAAI leadership.
AAPI leadership team has taken part in the historical India Independence Day parade in New York City on August 21^st.

September 2022:

Attended the GMCANA, RMCANA, and SMACNA Reunion on September 18^th in Dallas where over 600 of alumni from the 3 colleges joined and raised a substantial sum of monies for their college building projects and clinical services. Dr. Rao Movva donated $2.5 million Dollars to Guntur Medical College and Government Hospital Mother and Child Hospital Building.
We had a very productive Legislators meeting at Senate Hall on Capitol Hill and a grand 75^th India Independence Celebration at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC on September 21st under the leadership of Dr. Sampath Shivangi, Chair of Legislative Committee. 4 US Senators and over 15 Congress members, as well drug Czar, Dr. Rahul Mehta and Indian ambassador Hon. Taranjit Singh Sandhu addressed AAPI members and discussed various issues with members. I want to specially thank Dr. Sampat Shivangi, Chair, and Dr. Kishore Challa, Co-Chair of the AAPI Legislative Committee for personally connecting with US Senators and House members and inviting and arranging for their participation.
Presented a talk on Mental wellness to community members webinar organized by NATS in collaboration with AAPI.

October 2022:

We had our AAPI fall governing meeting here in Atlanta from October 7^th – 9^th under the leadership of Dr. Srini Gangasani, Chair, Dr. Raghu Lolabhattu, Convener, and Dr. Uma Jonnalagadda, President of GAPI, the host chapter. It was a fabulous well-planned event by GAPI to bring many AAPI delegates together for a very productive and collegial discussion to plan out the vision and goals of AAPI. In this connection AAPI Women’s committee under the leadership of Dr. Udaya Shivangi and the team has done suicide prevention awareness fundraiser “Making A Difference, One Life at a Time” and collected over $17,500, which was donated to AFSP – American Foundation to Prevent Suicide.

Our AAPI Publication Committee Chaired by Dr. Leena Gupta and the team has done a good job bringing out this fall 2022 edition of AAPI Journal. We are very thankful to our advertisers for their support and to members for their articles, photos, and messages to make it happen.

https://2022.aapiusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/AAPI-2022-Fall-Journal.pdf

CME and Educational meetings:

We had AAPI CME programs on August 20^th on Monkeypox by Dr. Amesh Adaljia and on September 17^th(National Physician Suicide Awareness Day) on Physician Suicide by Drs. Prasad Padala and Ravi Kolli. https://youtu.be/kvDIGmsUlcQ
We had non-CME presentations on September 10^th World Suicide Prevention Day by Drs. Aparna Vuppala and Ravi Kolli. https://youtu.be/KknMTT3Mu0U
We have on September 28^th by Dr. Tracy Wilson, DNP sponsored by Pfizer Inc on US Covid 19: Who is at High-Risk?
On October 1^st on World Heart Day AAPI CME program world-renowned cardiologists, Dr. Sekar Katheresan of Broad Institute of Precision Medicine, MIT, and CEO of Verve Therapeutics and Dr. Jaideep Patel of Heart and Vascular Institute of Johns Hopkins Medical School presented an innovative and informative state of the art cardiac medicine education program. https://youtu.be/e80ZbpKZqZ8

Ongoing Projects:

“AAPI-Adopt a Village” program of medical screening and health education is going forward in partnership with GTC and has completed 51 villages in AP, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana and on aspiring to complete 75 villages as planned. We had an event on October 2^nd on Gandhiji’s birthday anniversary to present an interim report to all the sponsors and members of AAPI. Please continue to support and help execute next phase of the project of providing preventive and primary care in person and virtually to patients in these villages.

Upcoming Events:

Our upcoming events include an AAPI Family tour to Vietnam and Cambodia with 2023 New Year eve celebrations in Kaulalampur, from December 23^rd, 2022, to January 2^nd, 2023, followed by
Pre-GHS-City tour of Visakhapatnam and trip to Scenic Araku Valley from January 3^rd to 5^th.
AAPI Global Health Summit GHS from January 6^th to 8^th, 2023 at Novotel Varun, the beachfront premiere hotel and venue in Visakhapatnam, AP. Please register and participate, so we can have an impactful summit and help improve healthcare equity and quality with special emphasis on the elimination of Mental health Stigma, Suicide Prevention, Physician Wellness, improving Maternal and Infant Mortality, etc
February 26^th – March 11^th: New Zealand – Australia CME Tour
Spring Governing Body Meeting will be in Huntsville, AL from March 10^th to 12^th, 2023.
AAPI annual Convention in Marriott Downtown Philadelphia July 6-9, 2023

We are so fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated group of EC, Committee Chairs and teams, BOT, and patron chapter leadership supporting, participating, guiding, advising, planning, and executing various activities of AAPI, and am immensely indebted to all of you for your unconditional support and encouragement.

Want to reiterate again, that we will work together to promote our values of professionalism, collegiality, excellence in patient care and enhance AAPI’s reputation as a premier professional organization offering educational programs and advocacy and I believe in humility and not hubris, reconciliation, and not recrimination, being empathic not just emphatic and being compassionate as well as passionate to join for common causes unitedly with a vision and not division.